In a shock move on Friday the newspaper’s owner, Evgeny Lebedev, revealed the former chancellor’s appointment, saying he was “thrilled” to have landed the Tatton MP.

Osborne’s fellow ministers, commentators, the public and even some of the Standard’s own staff, however, didn’t share Lebedev’s enthusiasm, not least because Osborne’s journalistic career is limited to unsuccessful applications to the Times and Economist, followed by a diary column in the Daily Telegraph.